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Glite Dictionary
⭐ A bright star 🔭 A space observatory
Spica

Spica

1 9.9
A planned infrared space telescope to study the cold universe
  • proper noun
  • /ˈspaɪkə/
  • Specialized
: SPICA
  • The Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics, or SPICA, is set to launch in the coming years.

Examples

  • The result, Project SPICA, is in its sixth year and second NSF grant.

    Academic text (1994)

  • SPICA: Support Program for Instructional Competency in Astronomy

    Academic text (1994)

  • The SPICA project aims to explore the origins of galaxies in the cold universe.

  • Researchers announced a new discovery related to the SPICA mission at the conference last week.

Surface Forms

Spica main

Etymology

Spica is also the name given to a planned space telescope and is made from the first letters of Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics, but the team chose it to echo the bright star Spica. A helpful way to remember this is to think of a telescope named after a star, so the name links the mission to the sky it studies.